Change
by Orange Orange Employee
Summary: Snape has a daughter placed under his care, two years older than the famous Harry Potter. She manages to change the school for the better but isn't without her own trials and tribulations. An AU on events within the timeline. Mostly sticks to canon, with a few changes.
1. Chapter 1

She was sitting alone in the sparse room, the conversation wafting through the slightly ajar room as she tried to listen in. "You can't just leave her here." He was whispering fiercely. She'd never met him before, but her mum had said he was nice. He didn't seem nice.  
"Severus. I wouldn't be leaving her if I had a choice. You know that." Her mum was almost crying. She wanted to stand, to run to her mum and make sure she was okay, but she knew she couldn't interrupt. There was a moment's silence before the man pleaded again,  
"But what am I supposed to do when I'm called? We both know he's coming back now. I can't leave her alone, and I can't come back to her like that." She didn't understand what he was saying but at least he wasn't directly saying he didn't want her.  
"Make a house elf look after her. Or Minerva." She paused. She could imagine the expression on her mums' face, she'd been told it was the hardest decision her mum had ever made. Eventually, she heard the door close, and a deep sigh come out of the other room. Looking through the crack in the door she watched him staring at the door. He was tall, dressed in black robes. She couldn't see anything but darkness. But her mum said he was nice. She pushed the door open gently, and he turned around slowly. Neither of them smiled, but he didn't look like the type of person to smile anyway.  
"Nice to meet you, Charlie." He said after a few seconds. He was surprised to see that she looked more like her mother than she had in the pictures. She had his thin black hair, abruptly cut above her shoulders, but her face was very similar to her mothers. He recognised his black eyes in hers but was still looking down nervously at her after she hadn't replied.  
"What should I call you?" She looked him straight in the eye, bolder than most of his seventh-year students although she was only eleven. He'd never been lost for words before. He always knew what to say. He didn't want to be 'Dad', and he wasn't going to be 'Snape', or 'Professor'. 'Severus' seemed too casual, but it would have to do for now. He answered, then picked up her bag and carried it up the stairs to her room.

The room was light and airy, a bed, a desk and a bookshelf the only occupants of it. He paused for a minute while she wandered about the room, running her hands over everything. Lost for what to do, he simply stood near the door and spoke facts. He could do that. "We won't be staying here long; school starts in a few weeks. Do you have your Hogwarts letter here?" She turned to him and nodded. "We'll go to Diagon Alley tomorrow. Is there anything else you need in the room?" She shook her head, not finding any reason to speak. "I'll call you to dinner in an hour." He swept out of the room and closed the door behind him, not pausing until he reached his own room and immediately started overthinking the situation.

Meanwhile, she unpacked her suitcase, gently humming a Muggle song. She opened the windows, letting a breeze waft through the room as she stared at the sky, which was becoming increasingly dark. She picked a book out of her small pile and began reading, more often looking at the stars than at the words on the page. It seemed like no time at all had passed before she heard a gentle 'pop', and a small creature appeared behind her. She started, but not because of the sudden appearance. Because of the words her mum had said earlier, "Make a house elf look after her." She froze. She wondered if he'd taken the advice to heart. She'd trusted her mum. She thought she wouldn't do anything to hurt her. But she was in this random house, with a random man, being looked after by a house elf that she'd never met before. Her eyes started widening and she froze. Stubbornly, she held her head high and started walking across the room. She short creature didn't seem to notice or care, and just opened the door for her, grumbling that she had double the work to do now that there was another Snape in the house.

Arriving at the dinner table, she sat across from Severus, quietly saying "Hello." At least he was here. She had expected that he would be too busy, but he was there, looking awkwardly at her. They began to eat, but the silence was uncomfortable. She was used to her mum's incessant chattering, where she could just sit and giggle while her mum made funny jokes about her day. "What do you do Severus?" He looked up, both shocked and thankful that she had broken the silence.  
"I'm a teacher at Hogwarts." She cocked her head to the side, furrowing her brow when he began to tell her about Hogwarts and his role there. He did his best to hide how much he hated it, but his abrupt attitude on the subject gave him away. She questioned him further, asking about the house elves, the houses and all of the subjects. He was glad to have a topic of conversation, but it made him realise that in a few short weeks he'd have to answer the same banal questions to hundreds of students.

Their trip to Diagon Alley was short and succinct, as Severus seemed to know exactly where to go, and what to get. She decided he probably wasn't the type of man to ever flounder on what to do, which is why conversations with him were so awkward. He seemed nervous like he had no idea what he was doing. But he had to make conversation with students her age all the time, so she couldn't figure out the problem. She was very quiet around him, not at all like Draco, although he was two years younger. He could see her eyes light up in a lot of the stores, so he made sure she had everything she could ever want from the small town. He didn't know how else to communicate to her. She was too small. She was too quiet. He didn't know enough about young girls to be able to talk to her, but he couldn't stand this awkward silence for much longer.

They were having dinner again, back in the dining room with the oversized table and the dull lighting. The only sounds were that of the clinking of knives and forks before she asked confidently, "Have you heard from Mum?" She looked so hopeful. It was then that he realised. She thought her mother was coming back. He looked her straight in the eyes and was about to break the news to her when her lower lip began to tremble. He spoke softer than he ever had to the young Slytherins, and lied,  
"She's doing well. She has other engagements at the moment but she's been asking about you." Her eyes widened and seemed to dry at the news.  
"Can I write to her?" She asked quickly. He nodded, wandlessly waving his hand and watching as a quill and parchment wafted over to them.  
"I'll wash up while you write to her. Are you done?" He indicated to her plate and she nodded enthusiastically, already taking up the quill and dipping it into the inkwell haphazardly.

She brought it to him after a few minutes and politely asked him to send it as soon as he could. He nodded gravely and wished her a good night, glad to finally see her in a good mood, but also panic had set in. He couldn't send it to her mother. How would he get a response? He knew that it would never be responded to. Honestly, it was a surprise that Helen had made it to Charlie's eleventh birthday. He'd half expected the child to unexpectedly turn up at his door since the day he'd found out she'd been pregnant. It had been a mistake, he'd been 18 and she 20, both young death eaters at the beginning of the war. It had cleared her of most horrific tasks during the time, as Voldemort had a vested interest in the child, so she had left to care for the child. Voldemort had given clearance for the mother and daughter to leave, saying that he'd call on Helen when he needed her back. But Voldemort needed her back now. He was barely alive; Severus could tell as the dark mark was faint. Helen had some, 'special' talents which would apparently become useful in the coming years. He only hoped that Voldemort had forgotten about their daughter.

He still had the letter in his hand, and an overwhelming desire to know his daughters' thoughts washed over him. Did she hate him? He supposed he hadn't been particularly nice. No one had ever taught him how to be a good parent. He didn't seem to have any paternal instinct, and at 29, he was way out of his depth. He placed the letter on his nightstand and walked to the library. He'd decided that he could pretend to read while he mulled over his problem. He was halfway there, walking silently when he heard a muffled sound from Charlie's room and a light coming from the crack in the door. He walked over slowly, terrified of what he might see and have to deal with on the other side. He knocked gently on the door and walked in quietly. He was no longer in his robes, only in a simple black shirt and black sweatpants when he noticed the tear tracks on her face. "Charlie?" He said softly. She was already looking at the intrusion in her room, and the light of her bedside lamp shone dimly across the room. The spellbooks he had bought for her were laid out in front of her, and she seemed to be distractedly flicking through them. She rubbed her face, only making her eyes increasingly red, as he motioned at the foot of the bed for her approval. She gave it hesitantly. "What's wrong child?" His low baritone was oddly soothing. He knew exactly what was wrong, and there was a long list. The fact that her mother had left her alone with a random man in a strange house, the fact that she was about to move to yet another unfamiliar place, Hogwarts, and that she was quite alone in her life right now.  
"You lied to me." She said it quietly. How could she know? "Mum's not coming back." She looked at him for confirmation. He shook his head slightly and a single tear worked its way down her cheek. She wiped it away hastily before it dropped on any of her books. "I wrote the letter for you." He shouldn't be surprised. It was his child after all.  
"How much do you know?" He asked, realising that she probably knew more than he had expected.  
"I've seen the dark mark. It was moving last week." She looked up at him darkly, "It's him, isn't it? He's taken her back." Severus only nodded in assent.  
"I'm sorry."  
"Do you have one?" She asked abruptly. Looking at her for a quick second he nodded, and told her of his part in the war.  
"Are you safe?"  
"No." He answered truthfully, not wanting to lie to her, and also not being able to lie. "But I'm also not about to go missing. My part in the war is stable. You need not worry yourself over me." She nodded, closing the spellbooks in front of her and returning them to her nightstand. There was a moment of silence before he broke it, attempting to make small-talk with her, to take her mind off darker thoughts. "What are you reading?" He was indicating to the battered book which remained next to her on the pillow.  
"The Craft. It's mum's favourite book." She looked down at it, "I don't really understand it. I think it's just comforting, to be honest." Of course, it was Helen's book. From what he could remember, it was full of dark nuances but was considered a classic in the Wizarding world.  
"I could read it to you?" As soon as she entered his house, he'd felt an insane desire to make her like him. Maybe that was the extent of his paternal instinct, a need for his daughter's approval. She silently handed the book to him, and he read from the beginning.

She was asleep within twenty minutes, having been completely invested in the story, asking questions at every turn. Severus lay the book down on top of her school books and headed back to his own room. He'd been itching to read the letter since she said that it was for him. It was surprisingly long for how little time it had taken her, but her penmanship needed work, he'd noted, after a quick scan of the contents.

 _Severus,_

 _I think I know more of my mothers' current situation than you realise. I won't assume I know more than you, but I don't think I want to. I hope you forgive me for not trusting you yet, but I haven't been in touch with many people other than my mother. Mum and I lived in solitude. We lived in a small home with only a few other houses around, and we never met any neighbours. So forgive me for any awkwardness that I might exude, because I don't exactly know how to talk to you, and you don't seem one to make it very easy._

 _I would like to know a few things about the coming year._

 _1._ _Will I automatically be placed in Slytherin because of my parentage?_

 _2._ _Will I live with you during the year, or within my own house tower?_

 _What name will I go by during the year?_

 _I would also like to say that I am sorry. I know you didn't want a daughter. I know you were eighteen when mum got pregnant, and I'm sorry that I now have to be under your care. While I'm sorry, I also know it isn't anyone's fault._

 _Thank-you for being so accommodating when you obviously don't know how to respond to this situation._

 _Charlie._

"Jesus." He muttered under his breath. She was right of course, but he certainly didn't expect a letter like this from an eleven-year-old. She looked so young, but her mind seemed anything but. He knew she'd have to take the name Snape, as it would protect her from students. If she took the name Atwood, from Helen, she would immediately be targeted, and at least he could protect her this way. He hoped she'd be in Slytherin, based solely on the fact that he could more easily watch over her this way, but he had a vague suspicion that she'd be a Ravenclaw. As for her living quarters, he had absolutely no idea. Maybe he could give her access to his floo. He realised quickly that it was going to be an odd seven years.

 **A/N**

 **Hi everyone, I hope you enjoyed this. I have pretty big plans for it and I'll try to stick with it as best I can. This is my first HP fanfic, so I'm still figuring out how to write Snape (I'm justifying his OOC'ness by how young he is)**

 **On a personal note, I'm now 17, year 12, have literally no plans for my future, Aussie, and I think that's it. Sorry if you're annoyed with how I spell *Mom* but I can't bring myself to change it.**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N  
** **Guess what?  
** **It's not mine, all mistakes are mine, but please review.**

 **Also thanks to my first reviewer, (you're super fab), Snape was 18 when she became pregnant, which was a year out of his schooling, so he'd just joined the Death Eaters.  
** **I absolutely love everyone who read, reviewed, followed and favourited, you're actually tops.**

A few days later, he drove her to the train station and helped her through the barricade before wishing her farewell. Of course, he saw the beaming face of a Mrs Weasley coming at him through the crowd. She was there with her whole crowd of redhead Gryffindors, which was only missing the eldest, who had graduated the year before. She bumbled up to him extremely quickly, and he waited patiently with his signature sneer etched on his face.  
"Severus!" She said excitedly, looking up at his unimpressed face. "Who have you got here?" She looked down at Charlie, who looked incredibly small next to him. But she stuck out her hand and introduced herself,  
"I'm Charlie." Mrs Weasley grinned widely at her and shook her hand while Severus spotted the rest of the Weasley's coming over to annoy him too. The eldest child there, Charlie, was the first to stick his hand out, grinning when he noticed the identical names. They all made introductions to her, but she quickly drew back from the sheer number of people who had crowded around them. She pressed herself against Severus' side, as he was the only familiar face around. He placed an arm around her shoulder and steered them both away with excuses about having to say goodbye.  
"Sorry. There were a lot of people." She apologised quickly, as soon as they were out of earshot of the Weasley's.  
"Not to worry. I was quite anxious to get away myself. Are you ready for the train little one?" He asked gently. After reading her letter and the consequent discussion the next day, they were slightly less awkward with each other. She nodded, and he handed her a few coins for the train before taking her aboard and saying his farewells. "I'll see you soon." She looked around for an empty carriage and eventually found one, seating herself in it and staring out the window.

There was nothing much to see until five minutes passed and someone knocked on the door, requesting entrance. She opened the door, and a stout boy grinned at her. He was a few inches shorter than her, black hair sticking up in all directions. His grin was contagious, and she found herself smiling back at him easily as he introduced himself. "Pete Davies. Nice to meet you." He then offered her a lollipop, which she accepted and soon they were both grinning over the sticks. "I've always liked the muggle ones more. The wizard ones keep changing flavours, and I only like orange flavoured ones." He said matter-of-factly. It was at this moment that the door opened again, and another young boy stepped inside.  
"First-years?" He asked, a small owl perched on his shoulder, chirping happily. They nodded happily, and he took the seat next to Charlie. "I'm Simon Urquart, nice to meet you." His bird had quite happily started jumping around onto everyones' lap, nibbling at their fingers and poking around in their pockets for treats. "His name is Roach. He's a bit of a pest really, Dad wanted to call him Potter, but I thought it was weird, 'cause we'll be at school with him in a few years. It'd be a bit awkward trying to explain that." Charlie tried to hide her confusion, wondering who Potter was, any why both the boys knew him. The train had just started to move when the last member of their cabin walked in, a tall, regal girl with wavy blonde hair tied back simply. She set her jaw, asking,  
"Is anyone sitting there?" before waiting coldly for her response. The three of them shook their heads dumbly, and she sat down with a huff. They avoided eye contact with her until Roach hopped onto her shoulder and started nibbling at her ear affectionately. She jumped, before stating aloud, "I don't understand this whole thing with birds. Why do you all love them so much?"  
"Well, they take our letters." Simon said helpfully.  
"They're like cats, but they eat less," Pete added, ignoring the scorn in the new girls' glare. "Would you like a lollipop?" He asked, offering one to her. Her eyes lit up excitedly, although Charlie couldn't imagine why a lollipop was so exhilarating for her. Everyone made introductions to the new girl, grinned shyly at them and said, "Sophia Marchetta." It was nice to be in a group of people just as confused about the coming school year as she was, and Charlie found she fitted in quite well when she spoke up. Although she wasn't quite expecting the reaction she received when Pete and Simon heard that Severus Snape was her father.  
"Professor Snape?" Pete asked, his mouth open in shock.  
"I didn't know he had a kid." Simon remarked, "But I'm not surprised. No one knows anything about his personal life. I've only ever been told he's a right old git. What's he like?" She felt a bit awkward explaining her whole life story, but didn't want to lie to her new friends,  
"I don't really know. I lived with my mum until now." They seemed surprised about her confession and had to explain to Sophia that it wasn't often that Wizards got divorced because they usually wanted to continue the bloodline. Sophia was asking questions about everything and Charlie quickly determined that she was muggle-born, unlike the rest of them.  
"My Mum is a muggle, Dad's a wizard, bit of a surprise for her when she found out," Pete said, laughing easily.  
"I'm the opposite!" Simon said excitedly, grinning at his new friend. "What about you Charlie?"  
"Both my parents are magical." She said before Pete quickly cut in, saying,  
"Bet you'll be in Slytherin. With Snape for a father, and a pureblood. You've got no hope of getting out of that one." He laughed, while Charlie looked at the confused face of Sophia.  
"Slytherin is one of the four Hogwarts houses," she started and proceeded to explain all she knew about the Hogwarts sorting system before the train pulled up at the station.

By the time they had paddled across the lake, they were all grumbling and tired. At only eleven, the long trip had taken a toll on them all. But it wasn't long before they walked into the enchanted Great Hall, which had everyone gasping in surprise. It was simply stunning, the ceiling, the decorations, everything about this room was beautiful. Looking up at the table, Severus was sitting on the end, his face set in stone until he made eye contact with her, and gave an amused quirk of his brow upon her expression of amazement. Sophia had quietly slipped her arm through Charlie's, a look of slight terror and confusion on her face. Eventually, the hat started calling names, although Charlie only cared about a few. "DAVIES, PETE." The hat yelled from the stool out the front. Pete raced up, tripping slightly on his shoelace but giving a bow to the crowd who laughed at him. The hat settled over his ears for only a few seconds before announcing, "HUFFLEPUFF." Pete grinned broadly, going to sit with his new house. "MARCHETTA, SOPHIA." The hat yelled after a few more names, Sophia gave on last terrified look to Charlie before walking up the stairs as confidently as she could manage. It took almost a minute for the hat to yell out, "SLYTHERIN." Severus quirked his mouth into a slight smile, gaining another member for his house. Pete had looked sadly up at Sophia, who hadn't noticed, and instead smiled nicely at her new family. Charlie noticed her palms were sweating when she realised she was next. When the hat called her name, there was a collective gasp from the students, who all stared, gobsmacked, at Snape, who just intently watched his daughter cross the stage, ignoring the looks he was getting from both staff and students alike. Their attention switched between the young girl trying the hat on, to the potions professor who was pretending that nothing strange was happening.  
"Interesting. You certainly have the parentage to go to Slytherin. I wonder if your father would be angry if you weren't in his house. But you have a thirst for knowledge. You would do well in either house, but the world has great plans for you. I guess it had better be, RAVENCLAW." Slightly surprised, she took the hat off and looked up at Severus, who nodded, looking content, before joining the throng of blue who were mostly all cheering for her. There were a few who looked confused and conflicted, but others who didn't seem to care in the slightest. Walking down from the stage, she saw Sophia looking a little lost at her table, as she'd been pushed aside for the pureblood children. That only left, "URQUART, SIMON." Who was immediately sorted into Gryffindor, his Great Aunt McGonagall looking very pleased.

They all thought it was quite odd that they were each sorted into different houses, but no one looked more disappointed than Sophia, who had quickly been shoved aside during dinner, and was now distractedly pushing potatoes around her plate. Snape quickly noticed what was happening, and resolved himself to try and fix the issue during his first talk to his new house members. It wasn't long before that occurred, with the prefects rounding everyone up and escorting them to their dorms. Sophia dawdled at the back of the group, distancing herself from the mumbles and glances that everyone seemed to be casting her way. She eventually made it through the dungeons, but as soon as she walked through the door, the paintings began to sneer at her. She hadn't even known that the paintings would move, and she quietly regarded them with an air of suspicion. It wasn't until Snape entered the room that the chatter stopped.  
"I understand that being a Slytherin is something to be proud of. So in no way this year, will you tarnish the reputation that it has built. That means no prejudice, no slander. You will, at least outwardly, show a respect for everyone." The whole room was silent, terrified of speaking out of turn. "You will abide by your curfews. You will also perform well in your classes and be respectful towards your professors. I want no complaints about my house or there will be consequences. Have I made myself clear?" All the first years gulped and nodded dumbly, and he stalked out of the room, after telling the prefects to set everything up. Sophia looked around nervously at her four new dorm mates, before immediately going to bed and curling into a ball.

Both the boys had a much jollier time, immediately making friends in their new dorm, and chatting away excitedly with them. Charlie made a tentative friendship with a nervous looking boy called Roger Davies, who had quickly introduced himself. The whole cohort of Ravenclaws stood in front of the portrait door, waiting for the famous riddle that they'd heard about.  
"You've heard me before,  
You'll hear me again.  
I will die,  
Till you call me again.  
What am I?" The knocker asked, and the two prefects set their minds to the task. The first years all looked dumbly at them, waiting for an answer. The prefects just shook their heads, saying,  
"Sorry guys. Can you give us a hand? I really don't want to be out here all night." Charlie couldn't believe that even the prefects didn't know the answer. It made her feel a lot better about being confused when they looked around dumbly at the group. They repeated the riddle for the first years, and there was a thirty-second pause before answers started coming in, Charlie waited for a few seconds, shaking her head at all the answers, but just thinking about the riddle until Roger called out, "An echo?" The prefects grinned and the door said,  
"Well done." Before granting everyone admittance. Charlie and Roger spent a second sharing a high five and a grin before they walked through the door with everyone else.  
It wasn't long before Professor Flitwick summoned a stack of books and stood on top of them so he could be seen by everyone. In his squeaky voice, he called out for silence, "Welcome!" He beamed. "It's lovely to see some new faces and some of the old ones. I know you'll all have a fabulous time this year, but I, unfortunately, have to lay a few ground rules." Everyone groaned simultaneously, "Curfews, learn, be nice, and have fun!" Professor Flitwick started chortling and then overbalanced, falling off his book stack. The two prefects took his place quickly, helping him up before addressing the class.  
"So, Ravenclaws. There are a few things you should know about being a Ravenclaw, and we've decided to let Benji from 6th-grade stage a short puppet show to show you everything." The boy whom everyone assumed was Benji jumped up quickly, and apologetically said,  
"Okay, I've only been working on this for a few hours, but I hope you enjoy it." He then blushing, summoned a puppet stage and brought his wand out. There were suddenly a few very intricately made and animated puppets on the stage all standing in front of a bookshelf, and Benji spoke for them, using different voices for each. One said, "The colour blue!", another, "Hairstyles!" and the last, "Cooking!", and suddenly a book flew at each of the 'students'. The two prefects ran to the bookshelf that the puppets had been talking about and indicated that they could use it whenever they wanted. The scene then changed, and the students were lying on the floor of the room, pointing their wands at the ceiling, Benji voiced each of them saying an incantation in turn, and a torrent of glitter fell from the 'ceiling' of the stage. They heard a quickly muttered, "whoops." Before he cleaned it all with a wave of his wand, looking sheepishly at Professor Flitwick, who was shaking his head and laughing. The prefects, at the same time, pointed their wands at the ceiling and clearly said the incantation, _"_ _et est ultimum caeli."_ Everyone looked at the ceiling and it was covered with multi-coloured shooting stars. There was a low murmur of appreciation, as Benji rearranged the stage again. This time, they were in a classroom with a bunch of cauldrons and a man that looked suspiciously like her father at the back of the stage.  
"Why aren't you writing notes?" One hissed rather loudly and in a funny voice that made everyone giggle.  
"I'm writing a brief history of the wizarding world. And I'm almost done!" There was a large book sitting on its desk, almost reaching the ceiling of the stage.  
"And why aren't _you_ writing notes?" it asked of the other student.  
"I don't like potions, I'd rather study garlic bread." It said shrilly. The prefects then confirmed that while Ravenclaw was considered the house of brainiacs, they didn't actually test that well because they were always too busy looking at other topics. There were a lot of first years who sighed in relief at this news. Then the puppet of Severus turned around and called out happily,  
"And they all lived happily ever after!" then threw hundreds of flowers on the audience before Benji bowed and accepted his applause graciously.  
The prefects quickly got everyone's attention again while they were still picking petals out of their hair, and said,  
"On a more serious note, curfew is still 10:00pm. If you ever need anything, come to any of the seventh years, or to Professor Flitwick, or really anyone you're comfortable talking to. We'll all help you out. I think that's it." Professor Flitwick then bustled over to Charlie and handed her a note before calling out for everyone to find themselves a dorm. Charlie opened the note while saying goodnight to Roger, and saw that it was from Severus,

 _Charlie,  
_ _I'd like to hear how your first day was. If you aren't too preoccupied, would you join me for tea when you're done with the house meeting?_

 _Severus._

"Professor Flitwick?" Charlie said from behind him, the small man turned and said,  
"Of course, you can go. Tell him that I said 'hello'". Flitwick grinned, chatting happily to the Head Boy as he sat himself down in front of the fire. She could do this. All she had to do was step into the fire and say, "Professor Snape's Office." How hard could it be? Although it wasn't the challenge, rather than the idea of stepping into the fire. One of the prefects was still in the common room with her, and said,  
"It's really not hot at all, someone fell in a few decades ago, so they stopped the fires from actually producing heat. There's just a lot of warming spells in the walls now." Charlie blushed, thanked him and stepped into the flames confidently, throwing her handful of floo powder into the fire below her, and speaking the words that would take her to her father's office.

Severus sat at his desk, filling out some paperwork for his new students when she appeared in the floo. She looked around hesitantly, seeing his office for the first time.  
"Ravenclaw? I thought for sure you'd be one of my snakes." He greeted, putting his quill down. She grinned cheekily,  
"The hat had trouble deciding between the two." He conjured some tea and a chair for her to sit across from him in. "How is Sophia?" She asked quickly, remembering one of her prime reasons for joining him.  
"She'll be fine once she receives the Hufflepuff invitation." He replied easily, sipping his tea.  
"What's that?"  
"The prefects in Hufflepuff have always been able to tell which students will be," He paused, unsure of how to word this, "less than happy with their house choices during their first week, so they host somewhat of a slumber party in their dorm for everyone. Completely against school policy, but nobody has ever stopped them." Charlie grinned, suddenly feeling better for her friend. "What classes do you have tomorrow?" It took a little while for Charlie to recall, but eventually said,  
"Charms, Herbology, Potions and Defence against the Dark Arts." She was grinning like he'd never seen before, so excited by the prospect of learning. He could definitely tell she was a Ravenclaw. After a few more minutes, he hustled her back into the floo, so she could go to sleep. "Severus?"  
"Yes, child?"  
"Would you read me a little more of The Craft before I go?" She pulled it hopefully out of her robes before offering it to him. He couldn't refuse as soon as she gave him the puppy dog eyes. There was something different about her from his other young students. They always said it was different with your own child, but he hadn't expected it to happen this quickly.  
"One chapter, then you'll go back." She nodded enthusiastically, and he took her through to his own rooms before they sat comfortably on the couch next to each other. She interrupted him before he had finished the first sentence, remembering what the sorting hat had told her.  
"Are you annoyed I'm not in Slytherin?" She asked quietly. He was taken aback for a second, before responding,  
"Of course not, little one." She seemed content with that answer, and he put an arm around her shoulder and continued to read.


	3. Chapter 3

Sophia skirted around the outside of the great hall the next morning, watching as Charlie laughed with Roger, as Pete talked to a large group of Hufflepuffs, and as Simon grinned at Fred and George. Apprehensively, she approached Slytherin table and shoved a few pastries in her bag before quickly scampering away. Her eyes were dull that morning, her long hair tiredly pulled into a ponytail down her back. She slowly made her way to the dungeons while eating her breakfast, arriving at class very early. Sitting outside the room, she pulled out her textbook and began studying the contents.

"Miss Marchetta," Snape drawled as he approached, "While I appreciate punctuality, half an hour early seems rather extreme." She quickly shut her book and stood, crumbs from her breakfast falling to the ground. Blushing, she apologised and packed her things away before trying to leave. "You may wait in the classroom if you prefer. Do not touch anything." He added before walking away. Sophia waited in the room until Simon arrived, who immediately sat in the chair next to her. As others slowly ambled in, a divide between red and green became more evident, with Sophia and Simon the only exception. The Weasley twins were the last to arrive, grinning at the whole class as they became the centre of attention.

"More Weasley's. Do they ever end?" Snape said sarcastically as the boys waltzed in, a few respectful snickers emanating from the Slytherin side.

"Yessir." Said one quickly.

"They end with Ginny." The other one supplied.

"But we like to think the best of them ended after us."

"Ginny and Ron are a bit of a waste of space in our opinion."

"Silence." Snape drawled out. "Ten points from Gryffindor for speaking out of turn." His famous speech soon began, and it didn't take long for Simon to doze off, staring into the distance, soon receiving a sharp elbow to the side as Sophia woke him, who had quickly realised that Potions was going to be harder than she'd imagined.

It wasn't until the Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw lesson that Snape had any students worth mentioning. It was odd, teaching Charlie, but she quickly sat down with the Hufflepuff boy, Pete, followed by another Ravenclaw, who sat down immediately, looking enamoured. Snape sneered at him, happy to see the boy gulp in fear and realisation. Roger edged his chair as far away from Charlie's as he could, until Snape said dryly, "I would prefer the furniture was left in its original condition." Roger blushed, and Charlie turned to look at him, confused. He went on his usual tirade about bottling glory and stopping death, before he reached the standard questions he asked of first years. To his surprise, he had two students tentatively raise their hands. "Peter."

"Well," He paused, hoping he was correct. "it's the start of the Draught of Living Death, but from there you need a sloth brain and Sopophorous beans." Snape raised an eyebrow,

"Five points to Hufflepuff." He asked the second question, this time asking his own daughter, whom he had seen studying this a few days prior.

"Bezoars are found in the stomach of a goat," She said, distastefully, "they can cure most poisons." She added quickly, knowing that he expected her to remember it.

"Five points to Ravenclaw." The next question was answered correctly by Pete, who seemed to have developed a healthy rivalry with Charlie in this class. It would at least be something interesting to watch over the next years.

By the time it was lunchtime, everyone was exhausted, but the four of them managed to band together and meet up for the first time since the train trip. They were all excitedly talking over the top of each other, talking about their day and their sorting, when their transfiguration teacher walked up to them. "Simon!" She exclaimed in her thick Scottish accent. "I didn't have a chance to talk to you last night. How is your mother?" Simon explained his relation to McGonagall to his friends, while blushing after she had pinched his cheek. He had a quick chat to Minerva until she let them be, and he sighed dramatically,

"Well I'm glad that's over." The group giggled and continued chatting like nothing had happened.

After waiting for the professor to disappear, three students approached them, looking Sophia up and down scathingly. No sooner was one word out of their mouth than Simon's fist was on their face. The precious Slytherin slunk out of sight until he returned with Professor Severus Snape.

"Detention to you, Mr Pucey." He said to the Slytherin leader of the small gang. "And to you Mr Urquart. Pucey, you will serve it with Mr Filch, Urquart, meet me in the potions room at 7pm sharp." He turned on his heel without any further adieu, and the Slytherins glared at them as they walked away.

"We need to do something about them." Simon said decidedly, Sophia sighed, hiding how happy she was that Simon had defended her. But she knew she had to take matters into her own hands, it wouldn't do to be defended by somebody every time she was teased.

"Sure. Just change the minds of a whole history of students." She offered dryly. "I have an idea anyway." Everyone looked at her expectantly. "Well, in spite of being called a Mudblood, I'm going to beat all their grades so much that they have no choice but to respect me as a witch." Pete proudly put an arm around her shoulder and said,

"Well we better start spending more time at the library then." It would have been very confident if he hadn't tripped over a cobblestone and fallen flat on his face, taking Sophia with him. They both got up quickly, the boy saying, "I'm fine." repeatedly. Everyone laughed at him as he brushed off the dust from the ground and apologised to Sophia.

"Looks like you won't be on the Quidditch team." Simon giggled as they all separated, going to their next classes.

Over the course of the weeks ahead, Sophia was barely seen unless she had a book in front of her. She had slowly worked her way to the top of all her classes, except potions, in which she was still being beaten handily by both Charlie and Pete and flying, where Simon had found his natural talent. Charlie was worried for her, she wasn't the type to naturally get these marks, and she knew Sophia didn't even like studying. She helped her as much as she could, but she couldn't convince the other girl to leave the library.

"Sophia. I brought you some lunch." It was a Saturday, and Pete had made his way up to the library, knowing exactly where to find his friend. She thanked him quickly, confused as to why he was there.

"Where's Charlie?" She asked as he sat across from her, pulling her potions essay over to himself and scribbling helpful notes across it.

"Her and Simon have gone to watch the Gryffindor Quidditch team practise. I hate Quidditch." He muttered. "You should eat that." He pointed at her food, and had to stand to put away her books and parchment before she would eat. She immediately glared at him, saying irritably,

"The ink hadn't dried on that." He just shook his head and waited for her to finish eating before returning her books, and helping her finish her assignments in a resigned silence.

Charlie, exhausted by Simon's exuberance in the Quidditch stands, as he had explained every manoeuvre in extreme detail, was resigned to spending her night curled up with a good book. The common room was packed, students from all grades sitting in the studying room, older students helping the younger, and some of the younger students excitedly chatting to the older about the work they were doing. There were students drawing, painting, tending to the bonsai which sat in the corner of the room which would occasionally give off shrieks as the students trimmed it. The common room had a space for everyone, while the main space was perfect for studying, having large group tables as well as smaller individual desks, the room also had doors leading off into areas specified for each subject, where students could work on their practical skills. Charlie nervously walked in front of the famed bookshelf for the first time, cursing that she hadn't picked a topic or a novel sooner. Before she had even opened her mouth, the bookcase gently floated a book down in front of her. There were symbols on it that she didn't understand, but the cover read, "Music Theory for Beginners." Little did she know that a new door had appeared in the common room, waiting for the day she would open it. Carrying the book to her room, she further inspected it, seeing that it was new, no dog-eared pages and no signs of aging. As soon as she sat on her bed, she was transfixed, jotting down notes in the margins of the book and not looking up until she felt a tap on her shoulder. She was startled, the book falling to the ground as she tried to see who had bothered her. She found herself looking into the tired eyes of one of the prefects, who collected her book off the floor and put it onto the bedside table.

"It's two o'clock in the morning. Your book is spelled shut so it won't open until breakfast time tomorrow. I'm sorry, but I've been waiting for you to go to sleep for an hour." The girl looked apologetic, but wished Charlie a good night before extinguishing the light and leaving the room.

By lunch the next day, Charlie was exhausted, but surrounded by her friends, she was extremely content. After half of lunch had passed, Pete asked, "Where's Sophia?"

"Probably in the library," Simon offered through a massive mouthful of sandwich. "That's where she usually is."

"I hope she's okay. I think it was awful for the sorting hat to put her in Slytherin." Charlie nodded at Pete, equally as worried.

Snape was walking down the familiar corridor to his office when he heard a sharp yelp. He hurried his paces, radiating anger at being disturbed during his lunch break. But what he found was a spectacle. The young blonde Slytherin was standing, chest heaving, her feet planted firmly on the ground and her arms spread out. Her whole body was tensed and he could see magic flickering over her skin. There were two boys, raised in the air by their ankles, both crying out. The two students weren't Slytherins this time, rather a Hufflepuff and a Gryffindor, but he recognised them both as purebloods. He saw the muscle clench in her jaw and he barely had time to cast a shield around the boys before she lashed out. The sound she made as she did so was inhuman, and the effort of her attack so strong that she fell to the floor as soon as she cast it. The boys scrambled to their feet, running away as quickly as possible, before Snape could deduct points from them, and before the girl awoke. Snape sneered, levitating the young girl to the hospital wing, resolving himself to having no lunch that day. Although he should have been mad at the young girl for attacking fellow students, he wasn't, as he was rather relieved she had found a method of protecting herself, although it left something to be desired. No sooner than they had reached the hospital wing than his own daughter and two young boys came rushing in, looking for their friend.

Laying on the bed, there were tears in Sophia's eyes. Madam Pomfrey had left, allowing her time with her friends. "I just want to go home." She whispered, screwing up her eyes to stop the tears. "I don't like it here. I want my mum." She finally admitted, the tears falling freely. Sophia and Simon stood stunned, not knowing what to do. It was Pete who embraced her quickly, talking gently in her ear, sitting on her bed with her.

"It's okay. I know. You've been trying so hard. It's unfair, you're so strong." When the tears stopped, Pete reached into his bag and pulled out some parchment. "Tell me all the good things that have happened lately." He prompted, setting his quill to the parchment. It took her a while to respond, so he wrote a dot point down, reading it out.

"One. You met all of us."

"Two. You beat the hell out of two bullies." Simon added, as Pete wrote it down.

"Three. You've come to a completely new place that your parents couldn't have dreamed of, and you're making them proud to have a witch as a daughter." Charlie said, watching as fresh tears rolled down her friends face. Pete squeezed her shoulder again,

"You know you don't have to prove yourself. They don't deserve to be your friend if they're mean to you." It was a few minutes before Madam Pomfrey bustled them away to class, giving Sophia a small dose of dreamless sleep to let her catch up on some rest.


End file.
